Christian Beginnings From Nazareth to Nicaea, AD 30-325

The subject is not exactly the Christian Church, which makes an appearance effectively only half way through the text; it is Jesus - what he was, what he said he was, and what Christians said about him after his crucifixion. For anyone puzzling over such questions, this is an exciting and challenging port of call, sweeping aside much of the fuzzy thinking and special pleading that bedevils the study of sacred scripture ... [a] courteously expressed and witty little book Diarmaid MacCulloch The Times

The subject is not exactly the Christian Church, which makes an appearance effectively only half way through the text; it is Jesus - what he was, what he said he was, and what Christians said about him after his crucifixion. For anyone puzzling over such questions, this is an exciting and challenging port of call, sweeping aside much of the fuzzy thinking and special pleading that bedevils the study of sacred scripture ... [a] courteously expressed and witty little book -- Diarmaid MacCulloch The Times This book represents the summation of [Vermes's] thinking about the early history of Christianity. It is a challenging and engaging book that sets out to retrace the route by which a Jewish preacher in 1st-century Israel came to be declared as consubstantial and co-equal with the omnipotent, omniscient only God -- Stuart Kelly Scotsman A major contribution to our understanding of the historical Jesus Financial Times A magnum opus of early Christian history and one of the year's most significant titles Bookseller A very accessible and entertaining read -- Gareth Williams Scotland on Sunday BOOKS OF THE YEAR